Hope is the thing with feathers
by trippy37
Summary: Chapters, Post-Mockingjay. Katniss finds hope again and wants to share it with Peeta.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_Hope is the thing with feathers  
That perches in the soul;  
And sings the tune without the words,  
And never stops at all._

__X

Warm from the sun which begins its ritual of setting to her west, Katniss sits up from the burrow she had made with her father's jacket and the green, sweet Meadow grass. She stretches her arms over her head to draw out the stiffness in her shoulders and sighs.

This warmth, this early Spring has brought Katniss to her favourite spot – beside the pool of water, the lake, that gives Katniss a measure of peace – the space that her father brought her to every Sunday as a child. It is the part of the woods that remain the least changed and Katniss revels in this; she has been altered, forged by fire into someone she hardly recognizes when she looks in a mirror. This spot gives Katniss a small fragment of her former self back.

Her former self. _Before._

Before she was the Girl on Fire or the Mockingjay – the titles which always reminds her, sadly, of Cinna – she was just Katniss Everdeen, a friend, a sister and a daughter.

She leans over the curved edge of the lake and splashes the cold, clear water on her face to keep her thoughts away from the memory that she only sees Gale when Katniss remembers to turn on the view screen, she no longer has a sister, and her mother, far away in Four, is her only connection to who she used to be as a daughter.

Today, though, today she is warmed by the sun, cheered by the rebirth of the life which surrounds her, and she manages to clear the dark thoughts from her again as she picks up her game bag – disappointingly light, but then she _did _nap during most of her afternoon. She swings her quiver over her shoulder with the game bag and Katniss begins her trek back practically humming. She rolls her bow out first, ducks under the fence, mostly useless now, and continues on her way, game bag and quiver swinging on her shoulders.

Katniss stills once she realizes that the Meadow has gone quiet. The mockingjays have stopped to listen to the tune she is humming. Katniss grins, remembering her father and how the meadow was silent for him too. Peeta is right; the mockingjays are waiting for her. She realizes that the tune she is humming is the only song she ever taught her father; it was one she learned at school.

Katniss lets her game bag and quiver slide from her shoulder, sits down, cross-legged on the grass, with her bow across her lap and sings a song from a more innocent time:

_Over the meadows in the nest of a tree,  
Lived an old mother birdy and her little birdies three.  
Sing, said the mother; we sing said the three.  
So they sang and were glad in the nest of a tree._

_Over in the meadows in the sand in the sun  
Lived an old mother toady and her little toady one.  
Hop, said the mother; we hop, said the one.  
So they hopped and were glad in the sand in the sun._

_Over in the meadows in a sly little den,  
Lived an old mother spider and her little spiders ten.  
Spin, said the mother; we spin, said the ten.  
So they spun and caught flies in their sly little den._

There is a pause and Katniss waits. As certainly as they did for her father, the mockingjays trill the tune back to her. She laughs – a real laugh, which feels strange – it comes up her throat and out her mouth before she even thinks about it.

A Mockingjay has found her song. Katniss laughs again, which comes easier already. That's something that Haymitch would say to her, with more than a touch of irony.

And around the feathered edge of her heart, she feels something else. Something that Katniss can just barely remember feeling the tiniest bit.

Hope.

Katniss stands, brushes the grass from her pants and gathers her things, still smiling. There is only one other person who needs to feel this too; to share her realization with. She heads from the Meadow towards the path that will bring her to town so she can find him, picking a dandelion along the way.

X

Katniss opens the door to the bakery and the bell – the only object Peeta managed to save and restore from the wreckage – rings cheerfully. The contrasting smells of pine and baking bread should assault her nose, but Katniss breathes in deeply. Peeta returns home every night smelling like this; the newness of the building materials mixed with the scents of his breads and cakes. The _Mellark's Bakery_ sign that Peeta painted in colourful, looping letters, which hangs outside the door is replicated in miniature above the counter.

Delly smiles wide and calls out, "Katniss!" as Katniss lets the door close behind her. Delly stands at the cash register, giving change and a bag of baked goods to a young woman that Katniss doesn't recognize. So many came back to Twelve from Thirteen, but so many others came as well. The young woman leaves, and next is a young boy pushing a few coins across the counter while Delly wraps a cookie. Katniss doesn't recognize him either.

"If you are looking for Peeta, which I'm guessing is why you are here; he's gone out back for some flour." Delly sing-songs, while collecting the child's coins as he skips out of the bakery, small bag in hand.

Katniss smiles easily back. Even without her especially high spirits and good mood, Katniss would smile back at Delly anyway. It was hard not to – Delly's smile was infectious. Katniss, also, owes Delly a debt she can never repay. Delly helped Peeta come back to himself back in Thirteen when Katniss couldn't.

"Thanks, Delly." Katniss eyes one of the cookies on the tray that the boy was choosing from. Her stomach growls audibly so she shoulders her bow and snatches one that has a series of yellow flowers on it. Although Peeta has been teaching Thom the finer points of running a bakery, Katniss can see Peeta's hand in the delicate flowers painted in icing.

Katniss walks back into the heat of the back room nibbling on the cookie. The ovens were running almost constantly. Thom is there; his brown hair almost white with flour and his hands are stained from the coloring for the icing.

Once the mines were closed and buried, Thom decided he didn't want to work making medicines in the new factory, so when Peeta offered him a paid apprenticeship at his bakery, Thom was more than glad to accept. He looked sheepishly under his heavy brows at Katniss.

"Hey, Katniss. Peeta is…"

"Out back getting flour," Katniss finishes for him. She lays her dandelion on the cutting board and eyes him, trying to hide a slight grin in another bite of cookie. "I see maybe that there was a flour accident?"

Thom nods and some of the flour shakes out from his hair and falls down his face as he does It sticks to the sweat on his forehead and upper lip. "I might've used a little too much to line the pans."

Katniss smiles and pats his shoulder. More flour dust rises from her touch. "I do know Peeta is very happy with your progress Thom. He's been able to sleep in for two Sundays in a row because he trusts you."

"Really?" Thom smiles widely and Katniss's steps are lighter as she goes to locate Peeta, now that she's spread a bit of her good mood to both Delly and Thom.

She finishes her cookie and is chewing still when her eyes finally land on him. Peeta is walking back to the bakery from the storage room, a bag of flour on his shoulder. Katniss is transported back by the sight to a younger Peeta, before the Games, still managing the heavy weight of the flour on his shoulder, though perhaps not as easily as it sits there now.

Peeta puts the bag down by her feet where she stands, her bow, quiver and gamebag set down on the stoop, leaning on the open back doorframe almost distractedly, watching his muscles move. Peeta has come such a long way since rebuilding the bakery. His recovery, both physical and mental, has brought him forward to live, almost, a peaceful life. He still works nearly to the point of exhaustion every day, which he says is good for him, but Katniss has her doubts.

He hardly has time to register a smile at her unexpected visit and only manages to begin with her name, "Katniss," before she flings her arms around his neck. Her body crashes against his, though Peeta manages to keep them upright.

"Hey," Peeta whispers into her braid, "To what do I owe this pleasure so late in the afternoon?"

Katniss pulls back and kisses his chin, his cheeks and finally his lips. Peeta kisses her back with more fervor than he should, on the back steps of his bakery. When they break apart, their bodies are still flush against one another.

"Come home for dinner tonight," Katniss says. "Home" these days is at Peeta's. She hardly ever sleeps back at hers – she really should just give up the pretense and allow another family to move in there. But it's a subject that neither of them broaches, even during their most intimate moments.

"Katniss," Peeta begins to scold as she puts a finger to his lips. He holds her hand from his mouth, and continues, "You saw what happened in there. Thom nearly spilt a half of a bag of flour!"

She backs up a step away from him and crosses her arms good naturedly, "Oh, like you've never had an accident in the bakery? Like burning some bread?" She teases. Katniss is determined to get him away from the bakery for a while, to share her good day with him.

Peeta laughs and she pulls him close again, "I didn't catch much," she tells him, "but I have two squirrels and even I can make a good stew from them."

He kisses her forehead, "Keep it warm for me then." Peeta turns back to the bag of flour, but Katniss stops him by curling her hands around his neck again.

"Sunday then," she says, her eyes holding his steady, "You're taking the whole day off."

"Katniss…" Peeta begins.

She pulls him closer and kisses him again, deep and with as much passion as she can muster with the smell of bread and pine thick in the air. She kisses and kisses him and he kisses her back with enthusiasm until they hear Thom clear his throat. Loudly.

"Boss, Delly says we are running out of nut bread, and I can't get a batch started until…" Thom leaves then, his face reddened, but not just from the heat of the ovens.

Peeta turns again towards the flour, but Katniss holds his face in her hands again. "Sunday, Peeta Mellark. The whole day." Katniss picks up her things and turns before he can say no to walk back to the Victor's Village. Maybe Haymitch wants some squirrel stew.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Katniss tries her best to stay awake while waiting for Peeta to come home Saturday evening. She visits Haymitch until he passes out after a conversation that includes him asking if Peeta and she are still "doing it like rabbits" and if it is safe for him to "open his windows at night again."

Katniss considers pouring his half full bottle over his head. Instead, she lays a thin, worn blanket over him before she goes back to Peeta's.

She drinks mugs of tea, bathes, braids her hair, unbraids it and braids her hair again. She plays "catch the light" with Buttercup until the cat nearly goes mad. Katniss puts him outside and he issues a small hiss of protest, but Buttercup curls up for the night in the blooming primrose bushes.

Finally, her body gives in as Katniss changes into her sleep wear and lies down, above the covers, on the bed. But, she only dozes off and on in fits of restless sleep. She wakes, dreamless, and finds herself under the covers and in Peeta's arms.

"Peeta?" Katniss says sleepily, her eyes only slit squinting up into his. "When did you…?" She nuzzles further into his warmth, throws a leg over his and yawns.

"Only just,' Peeta whispers. "Shhh. Go back to sleep." He kisses into her sleep mussed braid.

Katniss rubs her eyes, ready to kiss his jaw and then instead, sits up with alarm. The dark shade of night has given way to fill their room with the first hazy rays of dawn.

"Peeta!" Katniss chides. "You were at the bakery all night?"

Peeta pulls her back down to settle in the cocoon of blankets again. "I had to prepare for tomorrow, baking and laying out everything for Thom and Delly." He wraps his arms tightly around her in his conciliatory "don't be mad at me" gesture. "If I'm taking the whole day off…" He yawns loudly.

She rests back into his embrace. "You are." Katniss allows herself to kiss his jaw and fit her head just under it. Her hand almost moves of its own accord under his t-shirt to stroke his chest.

Katniss feels a heat spread within her that has absolutely nothing to do with the covers that surround them. She presses a kiss on his neck, just below his Adam's apple; a favorite part of hers.

"Mmm. Peeta," she practically purrs.

His only response is a soft snore.

Katniss turns around in his arms, facing away from him, with a deep sigh. Haymitch needn't have worried; Peeta was hardly home while she was awake anymore.

**X**

Katniss reluctantly leaves Peeta's arms to let him sleep in. With her lightness of foot, she descends the stairs without a sound to the kitchen. Katniss begins fix a light breakfast for them both from the bread wrapped on the table that Peeta brought home. She then, while taking bites of bread, begins to pack a small lunch to bring with them to the lake. Katniss knows it'll be a hike for Peeta, especially if his leg is tired, but she wants to bring him to the spot where she feels most like herself.

Peeta finally comes down to the kitchen, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. His hair is sticking up off his forehead in blond tufts. "Why didn't you wake me?" he asks as he sits down at the table and scratches his head with a yawn.

Katniss walks past him and tries to pat his hair down, gives up and kisses his sleep-warm forehead. She reheats, then pours him tea and lays out the bread and cheese that she set aside for him.

"You need your rest, especially since we are going to the lake today." Katniss grins at him from across the table, already beginning to feel good again. Despite how tempting it was to wake him before she left their bed, she is, somewhat, glad she did allow his rest. They need this time together. Alone.

"We are?" Peeta takes a sip from his tea, "You know I'll scare all the game away." His brow furrows in a slight frown.

Katniss stands, turns from him to hide her smile and continues to pack their lunch. "We aren't going to be hunting today." Even though her game pack has been lighter than usual during her latest forays into the woods, she can make it up two-fold tomorrow.

She can practically hear Peeta's thoughts churning, wondering what her plans are as finishes his breakfast.


End file.
